miércoles, 19 de marzo de 2014

To begin the class students asked each other the questions: What time did you get up? What time did you have lunch?

Remember: we use the word time to say when exactly something is happening. We use the word weather when we are saying things like It is sunny and warm.

Students had done their homework but they had not read the instructions carefully. Next time, read the instructions. 

We started the main part of the lesson studying some verbs or actions related to jobs. The teacher wrote these actions on the board
Drive, fly, serve, catch fish, sell, put out, repair or fix, protect, tell, shave, write about news, make furniture, repair the water pipes, grow vegetables, trains a team, examines your eyes, work with numbers, heals animals.

Students had to find jobs to match these actions and then make sentences like: A plumber repairs the water pipes.

Next, students had to ask questions like this: Who grows vegetables? And answer: A farmer. They wrote their questions first and then they asked each other.

We practiced qualities and skills people need in order to do a particular job.

Skills: A barber can shave men´s beards. 

Qualities: A teacher must be patient and gentle.

Last we played a board game. Students had to answer questions about jobs, like Who answers the phone and types letters?

Don´t forget about next week: You must cook something small, like a cake, an omelette or a canape and explain how you  made it. If I remmeber correctly, when I asked you about your skills, some of you said you can cook. This is your chance to prove it.

Homework

Answer the questions:

What does a doctor do?
What does a firefighter do?
What does a car mechanic do?
What does a waitress do?
What does a taxi driver do?
What does a sales person do?
What does a football player do?
What does a reporter do?
What does an architect do?
What does your father do?

Isn´t that easy?

miércoles, 12 de marzo de 2014

Hi there¡

Yesterday we continued learning about jobs. But at the beginnning of the lesson students had to say their email address. Now they know how to tell their address and their email address.

Address: 5 Alamo Street, Colorado Springs.

Email address: jenniferbr@gmail.com

But in English to say @ we use the word at, and to say . we use the word dot.  

They also answered the question What did you have for lunch today?  Students are already used to this question. Remember we answered in the past simple: I had chicken and fries.

After correcting the homework we reviewed the names of many jobs, we saw a video called What does a doctor do? and then the teacher said something about a job and students had to say what job she was talking about. Here are the sentences.

He/she flies a plane
He/she  cook meals.
He/she serves meals on tables.
He/she designs buildings.
He/she makes furniture.
He/she catches fish.
He/she sells things.
He puts out fires.
He/she repair cars.
He/She makes people better.
He makes wall and ceilings of houses.
He/she drives children to school.
He cuts men´s hair and shaves men´s beards.
He/she protects people and buildings.

He/she tells the news to the public on radio or TV.

We were reading about the qualities and skills people need to do a certain job. Some of the adjectives used were strong, brave, friendly, helpful, quick, careful, patient, gentle.
When we talked about skills we say things like I can balance very easily, I can use a computer, I can cook very well, I can understand how animals feel, I can draw plans for houses, I can explain things very well, etc.

Finally we played a very exciting board game. Students practiced the Pr. Simple and the Pr. Continuous. Nobody wan the game because they kept trading places.

Homework

1. Choose 3 jobs. Ask the following questions about them.

What does a __________ do?

Where does a __________ work?

What can a __________ do?

What qualities has a __________ got?

And answer the questions, of course.

2. Write what skills you think ( 1 for each)  the following workers have:

A barber.

A nurse. 

A bus driver. 

A dentist.

Example: A psychologist can understand her patients and help them with their problems.




sábado, 8 de marzo de 2014

New month, new unit. This one is about jobs. By the way, everybody did his/her homework last week and it was well done.
In our first lesson of March we were first learning/reviewing the names of the most common jobs ( and some that were not so common): chef, waiter, waitress, cashier, secretary, accountant, lawyer, architect, business person (business man or business woman), doctor, dentist, nurse, teacher, sales person, construction worker, carpenter, plumber, artist, musician, dancer, pharmacist, security guard, firefighter, newscaster, reporter, weather person, coach, bus driver, taxi driver, truck driver, etc.

To talk about jobs  we studied and practiced the following questions:

What does he/she do? She is a nurse. Notice the article a.  The answer could be: He is an accountant. Now the article is an, because the word accountant starts with a vowel. But you must always remember to use the article when you are talking about somebody's job.

Where does a waiter work? In a supermarket.

Who works in a hospital? A doctor.

In order to study the questions above we listened to a recording and practiced asking each other about different jobs.

Homework
Watch the video and answered the questions:

1.Where do judges and lawyers work? (Notice judges and lawyers are plural words, so we don't use the article)
2. Where does a lifeguard work?
3. Where does an actor work?
4. What does a car mechanic do?
5  What does a pilot do?
6. What does a barber do?

Enjoy yourself!

miércoles, 26 de febrero de 2014

Hello everybody!

Yesterday we had to work very hard. After practicing a few questions as usual students read their homework. I really think, guys, you are making a good effort at completing your homework. I must say that Javier does it very carefully. Well done, Javi!

Students had to learn the following words: Porridge, oats, pan, boil, bubble, moon, surface, hole, disgusting, spoonful in order to to read a text. After writing down and pronouncing aloud the vocabulary they all read aloud part of the text and worked on the questions:

What´s porridge?

What is it made of?

How do you make it?

What does it look like?

How do you serve it?

They asked each other those questions and answered them.


The teacher explain the adverbs much, many and a lot of.

Much: for uncountable nouns like sugar, rice,water, money. There is no plural.

Many: for countable nouns like: apples, chocolate bars, steaks. It is always plural. 

A lot of: for countable and uncountable nouns. A lot of sugar, a lot of apples.

Students learned the names of some snacks in English: Popcorn, pretzels, nuts, pie, rice cakes.
They practiced asking each other: Do you eat much pop corn? Do you drink many sodas? And replying: No, I don´t eat a lot of pop corn or Yes, I drink a lot of sodas.


Homework

Read this text . Ask 3 of the questions above and answer them

The Spanish Omelette is a very popular dish in Spain.The most common version is made with eggs, potatoes and onion. To cook it, first you cut the potatoes into small pieces; then you fry them with the onions. Next, you mix the potatoes with the eggs and cook them in the pan. You can serve it with red or green peppers.

jueves, 20 de febrero de 2014

Last Tuesday was our 3rd lesson on the topic of food.

We started with the question: Can you cook an omelete (for example)?

Then students had to come up with their own questions, changing the food item, saying for instance Can you cook chicken soup?

This time everybody had done the homework. I am happy about it. We have to keep it more simple though. We must try to write short sentences. We always start with a subject, then a verb, then an object, or if the verb is to be, an adjective: 

It is a steak. It is juicy and tender.

In order to review vocabulary the teacher said: say something that can be tough. Students had to say: meat or chicken or rabbit. Or Say something that can be crispy or soggy.

During the second half of the class students were writing a letter for a penfriend in Ukraine. This time they really tried to express themselves clearly.

Homework
1/The waiter asks: What are you going to have?

And you order for all your family.
Your father: a steak with chips
Your mother: a mushroom and cheese omelette.
Your brother or sister: clams with rice.
You: anything you like.

You start with: My father is going to have...

2/Talk about a meal you did not like very much. Example: I did not like the salad because the lettuce was soggy. The main course was better: the chicken was tender and the chips were crispy but the sauce was tasteless. I am not going to eat in that restaurant again.


miércoles, 12 de febrero de 2014

Eureka! All of you did your homework!

I´m very proud of you. Good job!!!

This is a group of Master Chefs. Everybody can cook. I know it because students asked each other: Can you cook anything? And everybody answered Yes.
Paola, for instance, can cook eggs and sausages. Lucia can cook spaghetti, and Javier can cook meat and eggs. Nico can cook too, I remember he said he can cook soup.

We continued talking about food. This time students learned some adjectives you can use to talk about food:

crispy/soggy, sweet/sour, spicy, tasteless, tender/tough.

We listened to a recording: different people talked about something they had eaten. Students had to listen to the intonation and decide whether  they had liked it or not. That wasn´t so easy. But they could also listened to the words. In fact, they had to do an exercise: filled in a text´s gaps with the words they heard in the recording.

All together we wrote a conversation between some customers in a restaurant and the waiter. Students role played to conversation. At first they read their lines but later they did it without looking at the written sentences.

Homework: can you describe these dishes?



viernes, 7 de febrero de 2014

Yesterday we started a new topic: food and meals.

The meals are: breakfast, lunch, dinner and supper. Dinner is usually the most important meal and it can be taken in the evening or at midday.

Students learned the names of various foods ( they already knew many of them): vegetables: like potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce, onions, garlic. Meat like chicken, pork and beef; other foods: rice, beans, spaghetti, bread, cereal, cheese, soup, salad, eggs, omelette, fish; seafood: like prawns and clams. Sauces like tomatoe sauce, ketchup or mayonnaise.

Students had to answer the question: How often do you eat in a restaurant?

Students looked at a menu. The menu had 3 sections. For dinner people usually eat 3 dishes: A starter
Soups, salads, pasta, etc.

The main course
Meat, fish, seefood, eggs, usually with some vegetables and potatoes on the side.

Dessert
Fruit, yoghourt, ice cream flan, cakes, pies.

Students listened to a conversation in a restaurant. There was the waiter, who took the orders and 3 customers. In the conversation they used this verb form:

What are you going to have for a starter?

I am going to have chicken soup.

Are you going to have any dessert?

Yes, I am going to have a chocolate ice cream.

After listening they role played the conversation.

Homework
Write your own menu, with a list of starters, main courses and desserts. You can add drinks: Coke, beer, wine, mineral water, etc.Look up words you don´t know in the dictionary. 
Then write a conversation between 2 people who are ordering food from that menu.